He chuckled, and she quite liked the sound of it. As well as this polite conversation they had suddenly embarked upon. It was as if, somewhere along the way, they had agreed to a temporary truce. “Only if you like something stronger than tea. It is much better with cream and sugar, but I actually prefer the bitter taste.”
She took a sip, and while her nose scrunched up slightly, she took another. Licking her lips, she said, “I think I could get used to it if I drank it long enough.”
His focus was so direct, sointent, that for a moment, her heart ceased to beat.
Chapter 5
Kiss her again. It was the one thing that kept racing through Harlan’s thoughts in that moment. He forgot everything else in the room but Leah and that tempting mouth of hers. He had the dreaded feeling she would be his demise.
Or his awakening.
A brisk knock at the door snapped him out of his fantasy and he crossed to the door with purposeful steps. It wasn’t often that he had visitors this early in the morning.
He yanked it open to find Hugh and Benjamin on the other side. The first man didn’t surprise him. With a lady like Miss Lindquist in the house, Hugh was likely eager to tease him further. “Don’t you have a home to go to?” he asked Hugh dryly.
“But I so enjoy your company,” was the tawdry reply.
With a snort, Harlan walked away as he headed back into the kitchen. Hugh followed suit, but he saw that Benjamin was a bit more hesitant to follow. He decided it must mean that there was news to impart. Otherwise, the gruff man wouldn’t have been cajoled into joining Hugh this early in the day.
Removing his cloak from a nearby hook, Harlan tossed it around his shoulders. As Hugh settled himself at the table and rubbed his hands together with glee at the steaming cup of coffee that Harlan hadn’t been able to enjoy, Hugh took a fortifying sip. “I do so appreciate your hospitality, old chap.” He dared to wink at Miss Lindquist who smirked at his charming antics. “And I will be more than happy to entertain your lovely companion while you conduct your affairs.”
Harlan clenched his jaw. If it wasn’t for the fact Hugh was properly attired in his mask, Harlan might have considered ordering him out of the group—and perhaps his house as well.
“I see. You mean to play nanny in his absence,” Miss Lindquist drawled.
The look of pure dismay on Hugh’s face was almost worth the stage. “How hurtful, madam. I can think of no other reason to spend time with you other than some polite conversation.”
Harlan grumbled a curse as he went to join Benjamin.
They headed out into the fresh summer breeze that had finally lost the brisk spring chill. Now that they were alone, Benjamin wasted no time in expressing his curiosity. “How is your guest this morning?”
Harlan considered his reply. “Better than yesterday.”
“I’m sure that is a relief. When my Margaret gets a notion that she is upset about something, my ears won’t stop ringing for days.”
Harlan couldn’t hold back a twitch of his lips, because he knew that whatever his stocky, bearded companion might claim, he adored his wife. “Then perhaps you should be more cautious. You are shackled to her for the rest of your days.”
“Aye. Don’t I know it,” he returned gruffly, but there was a softness to his tone that he likely didn’t realize.
Deciding to turn the conversation to the matter at hand, Harlan asked, “I assume that there has been a development on the roads?”
“No, but I have heard news of London.”
Harlan’s chest tightened. That could never be a good sign. If the gossip had reached the Old Prince of Orange, then the threat must have gotten more severe. “I fear to learn what is being said now.”
“It is still the continued concern over the new queen,” Benjamin said grimly. “It is no longer just the name Victoria, or her age that is being disputed at ascending the throne at just eighteen, but many people believe her to be entirely too willful to properly rule a great nation like Britain.”
Harlan frowned. “This is nothing new. When the king was nearing the end, there were many who doubted Victoria’s ability to handle the country, but it has spread about time and again that her entire life, from the day she was born, has prepared her for this moment. It would have been better should she have been older to assume authority, but nature does not wait for any man.”
“I do not doubt that,” Benjamin returned with a heavy sigh. As they reached the plain where the windmill stood strong and proud, he paused and looked at Harlan with a grim expression. “The problem is the lack of a husband and heir.”
Again, Harlan didn’t understand the urgency. “They will both come in time. The Crown will make sure of it.”
“And if she fails to produce either before her death?”
Silence reigned after his announcement, because it wasn’t a guess as to who the heir presumptive guardian would be should something happen to Victoria. “Then it would fall to her uncle, Ernest Augustus, The King of Hanover.”
“Indeed,” Benjamin concurred. “There is already unrest in the monarchy because he believes that both titles should have been rightfully his. It isn’t enough that he inherited the Hanover title by right of Salic law, which prevents women from taking the role. He wants both Crowns, the same as his brother. Combined with his hatred for the Queen Mother, there has been… speculation that he will resort to more drastic efforts to gain the English throne.”
